Institutional Investor Journals Research Articles

Practical Applications of A Conversation with Paul Smith

Credentialing programs, member services and work in market integrity and investor protection are the three main pillars that Paul Smith will be focusing on in his new role as President and CEO of CFA Institute . As he was gearing up to address delegates to the 68th CFA Institute Annual Conference for the first time, Smith took time out to share his leadership agenda and CFA Institute’s priorities with Institutional Investor Journals . “We need to be more vocal with employers and regulators about demanding higher standards of education and ethics for investment professionals,” Smith advises. “For the industry and regulators to accept a lower standard of qualification is to sell investors—institutional and retail—short.” This report is open.

Practical Applications of Is Smart Beta Really Smart?

Outperformance of smart beta strategies cannot be attributed to their inherent advantage over traditional market-cap approaches, cautions <b>Burton Malkiel</b>, the <b>Princeton University</b> Economist and Author of the seminal book <b><i>A Random Walk Down Wall Street</i></b>. The latest edition of the volume details his analysis of smart beta strategies. “Smart beta is much more about smart marketing than it is smart investing,” argues Malkiel in an exclusive interview with <b>Institutional Investor Journals</b>. Read this report for Malkiel’s assessment of performance data from <b>Research Affiliates</b> and <b>Dimensional Fund Advisors</b>—and for <b>Rob Arnott</b>’s spirited rebuttal. For a deeper understanding, read Malkiel’s article in <b><i>The Journal of Portfolio Management’s 40th Anniversary Issue, Is Smart Beta Really Smart?</i></b>

Practical Applications of Anchored in Reality or Blinded by a Paradigm: The Role of Cap-Weighted Indices in the Future

Anchored in reality or blinded by a paradigm? What’s the future of market cap-weighted indices? Marc Reinganum, a senior executive at State Street Global Advisors, sat down with Institutional Investor Journals to discuss his thoughts on these questions, which are the subject of his article in The Journal of Portfolio Management 40th Anniversary Issue. In this report—containing excerpts from the accompanying video interview-Marc predicts that alternatives to cap—weighted indices increasingly will be incorporated into policy portfolios. He discusses the evolution of the CAPM and the academic and real-life rationale for the proliferation of cap-weighted indices during the 1980s and 1990s and why they are currently losing their sway.

Practical Applications of Shaping the Future of Finance

Financial services executives are confident that their industry has a strong reputation on ethical conduct. Yet, the industry’s emphasis on strengthening culture notwithstanding, its customers remain skeptical. John Rogers , President and CEO of CFA Institute , will discuss the disconnect between the industry’s opinion of its reputation and the common perception among the general public when he addresses delegates at the 67th CFA Institute Annual Conference on Monday morning. Rogers spoke with us before the conference about how this year’s conference corresponds to CFA Institute’s Future of Finance initiative, which it launched in March, 2013. The project aims to provide the tools to motivate and empower the world of finance to commit to fairness, improved understanding and personal integrity, he explained. Institutional Investor Journals (Booth 317), will be interviewing industry thought leaders, posting reports on panel sessions and identifying post-conference content opportunities. All of our reports will live at www.practicalapplications.com/CFA14 .

Practical Applications of Liquidity and Portfolio Choice: A Unified Approach

An investor’s optimal allocation to illiquid assets depends not only on assumptions about those assets’ return and risk, but also on how that specific investor benefits from liquidity. “Our clients felt that the existing methods for incorporating liquidity considerations into portfolio construction were too ad hoc and were looking for something more rigorous and tailored to their specific situations,” <b>Will Kinlaw</b>, Senior Managing Director at <b>State Street Global Exchange</b>, explains in an interview. This <i>Practical Applications</i> report outlines a solution proposed by the authors of <b><i>Liquidity and Portfolio Choice: A Unified Approach</i></b>, which won the 2013 <b>Peter L. Bernstein Award for Best Paper</b> across <b>Institutional Investor Journals</b>. The report is presented in a Q&amp;A format and mirrors the accompanying video interview with Kinlaw and co-authors <b>Mark Kritzman</b> (<b>Windham Capital Management</b>) and <b>David Turkington</b> (<b>State Street Global Exchange</b>).

Historical Citation Profile of Institutional Investor (II) Journals 1996 Through 2006

Institutional Investor (II) Journals include the following nine finance/investment journals: (1) The Journal of Portfolio Management (JPM), (2) The Journal of Alternative Investments (JAI) (3) The Journal of Fixed Income (JFINC) (4) The Journal of Derivatives (JD), (5) The Journal of Investing (JINV), (6) The Journal of Trading, (7) The Journal of Private Equity, (8) The Journal of Structured Finance, and (9) The Journal of Wealth Management. This note examines the historical citation (and self-citation) profile of these journals in three leading finance journals: (1) The Journal of Finance (JF), (2) The Journal of Financial Economics (JFE), and (3) The Review of Financial Studies (RFS) over the 10 year period 1996 through 2005. Citations for 2006 are examined separately as an out-of-sample extension. Additionally, the publication profile of 100 prolific authors in top-tier finance journals is examined, and their publication output in the II Journals is summarized. The II Journals examined include the JPM, JAI, JFINC, JD and JINV. This information is extracted from Maberly and Pierce (2007).